Boys sectional pairings are set

ED LOOMAN

Sports correspondent

TOURNAMENT TIME — Steubenville’s Jordan Wallace will look to help Big Red, a No. 3 seed in Division II, in the sectional tournament. (Joe Catullo)

CAMBRIDGE — Seedings and pairings for the 2019 Eastern District boys basketball tournament were announced Sunday.

Toronto earned the second seed in the very strong Division IV bracket. Sean Tucker and his state-ranked Red Knights, winners of 11 straight, will begin tournament play on Feb. 26 with a home game against Frontier, the 12th seed. The tip is set for 7 p.m.

Should the Red Knights advance, they will host either sixth-seeded Malvern or Catholic Central, which landed in the 13th seed, on March 1. The Crusaders will visit Malvern on Feb. 26.

Toronto was ranked third in the latest Ohio AP Division IV poll. Top-ranked Berlin Hiland earned the top seed in the Eastern District while Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans, ranked seventh, is the fourth seed. The third seed went to Strasburg.

The Red Knights are the top seed for this week’s OVAC Class 2A tournament and will entertain Shadyside Tuesday.

Big Red is the third seed in Division II and landed in the East 1 bracket. Steubenville’s first tournament game will be played on March 2 at home against either 10th-seeded Philo or No. 13 Minerva. Those teams square off on Feb. 26 at Philo.

Mike Haney’s squad also reached the OVAC final four and will travel to University Tuesday for a Class 5A semifinal.

New Philadelphia drew the top seed in Division II while New Concord John Glenn is second.

Harrison Central is the sixth seed and drew a first- round home game against 15th-seeded Claymont on March 2. Big Red and the Huskies could meet on March 6 in the district semifinals.

Indian Creek, the 12th seed, is in the East 2 bracket. The Redskins will visit No. 5 East Liverpool on Feb. 26.

Edison is the 11th seed in Division III and will host No. 14 Bridgeport on Feb. 26. As the 16th seed, Buckeye Local must travel to No. 1 Garaway on Feb. 26 for its opener.

It also was announced Sunday that the Ohio High School Athletic Association will again use a “mercy rule” during tournament play this year.

Any time a score differential reaches 35 points during the second half, a running clock will be utilized. The clock only will stop for timeouts or injuries. Should the score drop below 30 points, the clock will revert to regular timing.

The pairings (all tips are set for 7 p.m.) for the various division are as follows:

Division IV:

Feb. 26:

No. 16 Newcomerstown at No. 1 Berlin Hiland

No. 9 Caldwell at No. 8 Shadyside

No. 10 River at No. 5 Shenandoah

No. 14 Conotton Valley at No. 4 Bishop Rosecrans

No. 13 Catholic Central at No. 6 Malvern

No. 12 Frontier at No. 2 Toronto

No. 11 Monroe Central at No. 7 Tuscarawas Central Catholic

No. 15 Beallsville at No. 3 Strasburg

Winners play March 1 at better seeded team’s site

Division II:

East 1 District:

Feb. 26:

No. 16 Maysville at No. 2 John Glenn

No. 13 Minerva at No. 10 Philo

March 2:

No. 17 Carrollton at either Maysville or John Glenn

No. 18 River View at No. 4 St. Clairsville

Winners advance to the district semifinals

Minerva or Philo at No. 3 Big Red

No. 15 Claymont at No. 6 Harrison Central

Winners advance to the district semifinals

East 2 District:

Feb. 26:

No. 12 Indian Creek at No. 5 East Liverpool

March 2:

No. 9 Indian Valley vs. East Liverpool or Indian Creek at better seeded team’s site